Star Utters Profanity During 'GMA' Appearance to Promote New Film 'Cloud Atlas'

Actor Tom Hanks made an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" Friday morning to discuss his part in the new movie "Cloud Atlas", and unwittingly said the f-word while imitating a character, which he apologized for later.

Hanks was visibly shocked, as was the "GMA" host, when he dropped the f-bomb while speaking in a funky accent. A clip of his new movie "Cloud Atlas" had just aired when he was asked by the host to say something in character. Hanks could clearly be heard saying the f-word, and the host immediately reacted, clasping her hand over her mouth.

The actor was also visibly shaken by his utterance of the word during the live morning news program.

(Photo: Screengrab/Telly.com)

Tom Hanks appears on "Good Morning America" Oct. 19, 2012.

(Photo: Screengrab/Telly.com)

Tom Hanks appears on "Good Morning America" Oct. 19, 2012.

A clip showing Tom Hanks dropping the f-bomb can be seen on Telly.com.

Viewers who witnessed Hanks drop the f-bomb, expressed pity as well as amusement.

"Just saw Tom Hanks drop 3/4 of an F-bomb on Good Morning America. He looked like he wanted to crawl into his shoe. I feel bad for him," wrote Mitch Barton on Twitter, where both Hanks' name, "Good Morning America", "GMA", and "F-Bomb" were trending.

Bill Pytlovany, on the other hand, welcomed Hanks' mistake, writing on Twitter, "Tom Hanks dropped the 'F' bomb on @GMA . I needed something to wake me up and that did the trick."

Another viewer, Rajive Cunningham, thought Hanks had unintentionally made himself "cooler" by cussing live on television.

"Only Tom Hanks can drop the F-Bomb on GMA, Live TV, and become even cooler in the process!" Cunningham wrote.

Brett Rosner seemed torn in his response to Hanks using an expletive on "Good Morning America".

"Tom Hanks dropped the F-bomb live on @GMA? I hate him FOREVER. Wait, I could never hate Tom Hanks. Ever," he wrote.

Hanks stars with Hallle Berry in "Cloud Atlas", which opens Oct. 26 in theaters nationwide. The science-fiction film is described on Internet Movie Database as: "An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution."